Off Campus Living

• Introduce yourself and your roommates to your neighbors and share cell phone numbers and emails so you can contact one another if there are any concerns.
• Join Nextdoor.com for your neighborhood and participate!
• Say hi to people when you are outside, taking a walk or getting your mail.
• Be respectful with your neighbors, no matter the time of day or if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Ask your friends to do the same.
• If you choose to host a gathering, keep it small. Minimize the impact on others. Ask your guests to only use your bathroom, not the bushes or outside of your house or neighbor’s house.
• Ask your neighbors to keep an eye on your place if you will be gone over breaks.

Minneapolis-wide

Restorative Justice Community Action: enables you to defer a livability citation if you participate in a community circle process to repair the harm to the community. Citations include underage consumption, noisy party, disruptive behavior, detox, public urination, etc.

Sheridan Story: works with local community orgs to reduce food insecurity on weekends for children in local schools who qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. Volunteers from many area churches help fundraise and pack food bags that are distributed confidentially into backpacks on Friday’s at Marcy Open School and Pratt School locally (in addition to almost 100 schools across the Twin Cities metro).

Neighborhood Associations

Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association: get involved in the oldest neighborhood in Mpls and help plan community events, respond to neighborhood concerns, provide input for n’hood planning like the redesign of the 5th St Pedestrian Bridge or the addition of bike lanes to 8th St SE, etc.

Southeast Como Improvement Association: this neighborhood has a huge focus on sustainability and environmental initiatives with some amazing community gardens and the FairShare Farm among other neighborhood projects.

Prospect Park Association: participate in a vibrant n’hood org that is working to improve the plans for growth around the 29th St Lightrail Station and the Tower Park area among other projects.

Cedar Riverside Community Council: this is the new neighborhood organization which is bringing together residents, businesses and students to work for the success of the Cedar Riverside area. Get involved in safety initiatives, covid-19 community response team volunteer opportunities and more.

Business Associations

Dinkytown Business Alliance

West Bank Business Association

Childcare

Como Early Learning Center(Como Student Community Co-operative, SE Como)

Community Childcare Center (Commonwealth Terrace Student Family Housing Co-operative, St. Paul))

Miniapple Montessori (Marcy-Holmes)

University of Minnesota Child Development Center(SE Como)

Local Schools

Pratt Community School

Marcy Open School

Local Parks

For listings of Parks, please see the Resource Directory

Information about waste removal for specific properties can be found on your city's website. On the City of Minneapolis website you can learn how to prepare yard waste, learn about single-sort recycling, and find the different pickup schedules. For St. Paul and surrounding areas visit Eureka Recycling and Ramsey County for trash collection information.

Be sure to bring your cart back in same day. Don’t leave carts out and try to bag your items so they don’t blow around the neighborhood if your cart is knocked over.

Don’t use your recycling carts for trash. You can request additional trash containers if one is not sufficient for your unit.

Since it's inception, the Pack and Give Back program has diverted over 300k pounds of household items from landfills, and back to students and the neighborhood.

Help us by donating your reusable items when you are moving out each year. Help yourself by shopping the FREE STORE each fall and saving money on great supplies for your new apt or house.

The ReUse Program Warehouse is open for donation drop-offs from June 1st to August 24th, 9am-3pm Monday-Friday. Items collected on campus by the ReUse Program, or brought to the ReUse warehouse by students and neighborhood residents, will be part of the program's "Free Store". Based out of the ReUse warehouse (883 29th Avenue SE), all items in the Free Store will be offered free of charge to students from August 26th to September 7th.

Residents of neighborhoods Marcy-Holmes, Southeast Como, Cedar-Riverside, and Prospect Park may also shop the Free Store during the last week of the sale if they have made a donation.

DO NOT drop materials outside the ReUse warehouse overnight. This is considered illegal dumping and will be prosecuted. Materials for donation can only be accepted during normal business hours. Violators will be prosecuted.

Pack & Give Back is funded in part through a partnership with Hennepin County Environmental Services, in collaboration with City of Minneapolis Waste Management, the ReUse program, Off-Campus Living, Housing & Residential Life, and Community Relations at the University of Minnesota.

Step 1: Report it

Call 311 to report graffiti on your home or in your neighborhood. Even if you plan to clean up the graffiti yourself, make a report first. Clean City crews take photographs of the graffiti so police can track it or you can attach a photo to your online graffiti report. Homeowners and reporters of graffiti are encouraged to use the 311 app for iOS or Android.

Once the graffiti is reported, a deadline for cleanup will be mailed to the property owner. If the graffiti is not cleaned up within seven days of being notified, the city may remove or paint over the graffiti and the property owner will be billed for the cost of cleanup.

Step 2: Remove it

If the graffiti is on your property, it's your responsibility to clean it up. Free graffiti removal solvent is available at all Minneapolis fire stations.

Step 3: Prevent it

There are ways you can prevent your property from being targeted by graffiti vandals. Considering adding security lighting or other measures.

If you see graffiti or any other vandalism in progress, call 911. If you are able to identify the persons involved and it leads to their arrest and conviction, you could qualify for a reward.

Information from http://www.minneapolismn.gov/graffiti

Minneapolis has some specific rules around recreational fires.

Some highlights to keep in mind:

• Fires should be no larger than 3 feet wide and 2 feet high.
• Keep fires at least 25 feet from a building.
• Only burn untreated wood.
• Only host recreational fires between 9am - 10pm.
• At least one person 18 years of age or older should be supervising, and the fire should be put out before it is unattended.
• Don’t host a recreational fire if it’s windy (above 10 mph) or if there’s an air pollution health advisory in effect.
• Have a water hose or bucket of water or sand available for extinguishing the fire.